New books out on Fashola administration

All is now set for the public presentation of The Big Leap, a book on the speeches of a former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

The book will be presented to the public launched in Lagos on August 18 at MUSON Centre, Lagos.

Compiled by Hakeem Bello, a former spokesman of the Fashola, the 299-page book revisits key addresses delivered by the former governor during his eight years in office, thus giving insights into milestones of the administration.
his assignment with Fashola in a memorable way as he produced two other works alongside The Great Leap.

These are In Bold Print: Thoughts of Babatunde Raji Fashola and The Lagos Blow Down: West Africa’s First.... Controlled Demolition. The last was co-authored by Dapo Adeniyi.

But Bello, a former editor of Daily Times, says he brought out the book so that activities of his boss can become a reference point for future leaders not only in government, but also in other areas of life.

He believes that The Big Leap, which touches every key policy issue and decision, will also serve as a useful reference document whenever questions are raised about his administration.

“The publication offers the public an opportunity to match Fashola’s words with his actions and achievements,” a statement announcing the unveiling of the book also adds.

The 10-part book opens with ‘A Governor, his history. This takes readers through Fashola’s professional profile. This is captured under a subtitle – How It Came To Be – being Fashola’s speech delivered at the third edition of Project What Next, an encounter with a group of youths.

The statement adds that far from being the usual CV-styled profiling, the speech traces his adventures as a young lawyer, from his days at the National Youths Service Corps in the then Bendel State, to his early days as a legal practitioner at Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe and Belgore and K. O Tinubu &Co.

“The goal of the relatively-long speech is to present the circumstances that led to the dramatic emergence of Fahola as the Action Congress of Nigeria candidate in 2007. A discerning reader cannot miss the lesson the former governor wanted to pass when he emphasised how he struggled against the urge to enlist with the civil service where he believed that his potential would be undermined,” it notes.

Also captured by the book are the agenda of the Fashola administration, the programmes he pursued and his efforts he point into convincing key stakeholders on why such programmes were worth the investment.